Reading Time: 2 minutes A University of Otago study aims to determine how well rural people are prepared for natural disasters. The research was initiated following extreme windstorms last year that caused widespread damage in South Otago and Southland. Caroline Orchiston, the deputy director at the Centre for Sustainability Research at the University of Otago, said a survey will be sent to 5000 farmers, households and business that were impacted by the storms. The project is being run by the university, Earth Sciences NZ and
the Resilient Organisations and resembles similar surveys that followed Cyclone Gabrielle and flooding at Westport. Orchiston said the survey seeks to understand the impact of these events and how people make decisions on their response such as when to leave their home and where they relocate to. The survey also wants to know how farmers responded and what changes they made to become more resilient following these extreme events. For example, following last year’s winds many southern farmers were without electricity for several days, and
Orchiston said she hopes the survey will reveal how farmers have made themselves more resilient. “The overarching goal is to improve society from such events.” That means being better prepared for extreme weather both individually and as a community. “When a community is cohesive in that they know each other, know who are vulnerable and where they are, then they can recover more quickly.” The survey will be delivered in the next few weeks and results known by Christmas.
Otago, rural disaster readiness, extreme windstorms, South Otago, Southland, University of Otago, Centre for Sustainability Research, Caroline Orchiston, survey 5000 farmers, Cyclone Gabrielle, Westport flooding, Earth Sciences NZ, Resilient Organisations, electricity outage, resilience